I was angered and then upon further reflection saddened the other day when I overheard comments in a local establishment as I got my morning coffee.

The talk was about the flags down at Yestermorrow that commemorate the
fallen in Iraq and Afghanistan. The group was very critical of the whole
memorial and since I'm not especially quick on my feet when it comes to
responding in a situation like that, I held my tongue. I thought about
it the rest of the day though and was compelled to pen a response.

The group's comments were quite derogatory and one man who lost his son
in Iraq said he didn't want to be reminded every day that he'd lost his
son. Then there were remarks that the white flags mean surrender.

I've participated in putting up and taking down the flags in that field.
They have been a very powerful symbol whether one agrees with the war
or not. I'm so sorry that this man lost a son in Iraq. I'm sorry for all the
families and friends who lost loved ones in Iraq or Afghanistan. And it
further grieves me to think that we as a country are not necessarily any
further ahead in terms of our global relationships than when the war
began.

I'm certainly not convinced that either Iraq or Afghanistan have fared
any better. What have we accomplished? What have we learned? That field
of flags, in a very visual way, honored those who made the ultimate
sacrifice and the fact that they were white speaks to me of peace—the
ultimate goal.